Voluntary workouts began on Monday for the Cincinnati Bengals, and while they are just that – players don’t have to show up – many players have plenty of incentive to participate to some degree: they get paid extra for it.

Twenty-seven players have some kind of negotiated workout bonus for 2018 in their contract, from as little as the $10,000 Tyler Kroft and Clark Harris get up to the $500,000 Vontaze Burfict and Tyler Eifert will get this year for participating.

The Cincinnati native will get $2 million for “working out.” But the unrestricted free agent acquisition isn’t getting 40 percent of his season salary to stay, or get in, shape. No. It’s a way to essentially “guarantee” some money but it’s also a shrewd move on the part of the Bengals front office.

While the comp pick formula remains mostly mysterious – and it’s important to know it is always fluid as players are signed – what is known is that workout bonuses don’t count toward it. Signing, roster and reporting bonuses and base salary do.

So, in the formula, Brown counts as a $3 million player, not the $5 million he signed for.

(As for those players who decide not to come to voluntary workouts and forfeit any money they could have earned, the Bengals view that as a player’s choice and don’t hold it against him.)

The Bengals did the same thing in signing free agent quarterback Matt Barkley. Barkley is getting $275,000 for working out so only $1.675 million counts against the formula, canceling out the seventh rounder the Bengals would have gotten for losing Jeremy Hill.

As it currently sits, the Bengals are in line to receive three, sixth-round picks in 2019 for losing Chris Smith, AJ McCarron and Andre Smith. They will also have a sixth-rounder coming their way for trading Bené Benwikere to Dallas last offseason.

As it stands, the Bengals will have at least five, sixth-round picks next year.

More on Lamar Jackson's visit

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A look at what the Cincinnati Bengals have done in the past and when they could pick a quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft.
Wochit

But after the dust kicked up from all those fluttering hearts finally settled, the visit was like any other: Due diligence on a player that may fall to No. 21 overall.

Like most teams, the Bengals feel Jackson is an exciting player with potential, but it may take some time for that potential to be realized on Sundays.

Does it mean the Bengals will take the Louisville quarterback if he is there? I don’t believe so. (Frankly, I don’t think Jackson will be on the board at that point to even have to make that decision.)

But should the draft get weird and Jackson does take a tumble, no one at 1 Paul Brown Stadium will be caught unprepared if he’s there.

Pollack likes McGlinchey

Former Bengals first-round pick David Pollack is getting into the draft analyst business this week, as ESPN will loop in its College GameDay crew to complement its coverage. Pollack will also be part of his crew’s own draft show on ESPN2 – the first time he’s participated in a draft day event since the Bengals took him No. 17 overall out of the University of Georgia in 2005.

“It’ll be different for sure,” Pollack told BX. “We’ve been watching these guys for three and four years so I think we already have a really good understanding of who they are.

“I don’t think we have to worry about talking about the teams too much, and the future. I think we’re still talking a lot about those guys in particular who get drafted – what they did well, what they didn’t do well, a lot of comparisons to guys we’ve seen in the past or comparisons to guys that are in the NFL now.”

Viewers will be able to see Pollack and the GameDay broadcast while other networks are in commercial breaks as well from 5-7 p.m. during the first round of the draft on Thursday. They will be on from 5-6 p.m.

And while his crew isn’t about the projection of the players into the NFL, the 35-year-old will have some background on the Bengals when their pick comes up at No. 21. Pollack has kept a strong tie with Marvin Lewis and follows the club, so he’s well aware of what they’re in need of.

“More of this has to do with what your team is, where are you right now as a team and what are your big needs?” Pollack said. “Obviously adding Cordy Glenn is huge. Getting that solidified, that’s something that you definitely needed. I don’t think you’re out of the market. I don’t think that means you don’t need another tackle. I think you could still easily say that. A guy like Mike McGlinchey from Notre Dame, I think is a starter from day one. You got Cordy Glenn who’s going to be your left tackle. You put Mike McGlinchey as your right tackle and I think you’ve got a great; you start to solidify that offensive line.”

Dalton Date Night 2018

The Andy and Jordan Dalton Foundation rose to national prominence when fans of the Buffalo Bills flooded it with donations following the Bengals’ season-ending victory over Baltimore that sent the Bills to the playoffs – and one of the signature events that those funds help put on for seriously ill and special needs children and their families is on Tuesday. The Daltons and dozens of volunteers host the kids while the parents dine all expenses paid at Orchids at Palm Court.